Black Hollow Cage

I must warn you people... This one is VERY different. And, like many other reviewers state here, S----L----O-------------------------W...

At first I was kind of into it liking the David Lynch vibe. But, once again, although I do indeed give the director credit for trying, it just shows that there is truly only ONE David Lynch.

Like one of the first 'Helpful' reviews stated above, a really great idea, although fairly simple, but just not executed quite right (at least in my lowly and wretched opinion)

First and foremost... IF you do indeed want to see this film, please do yourself a favour and DO NOT READ OTHER REVIEWS HERE! It's just yet another case where clumsy people state WAY too much either in the title of their review or in the substance of it. I'm sure it's not deliberate, BUT... to me, incredibly stupid (sorry... just trying to save you from ruining whatever miniscule possibility of sparse enjoyment that you MIGHT stumble across in this story)

Yeah, really too bad... I can see that with a much more creative and atmospheric, moody touch, this movie really could have been a hell of a LOT better. Another reviewer here (I ONLY read these User reviews AFTER I see the movies, NEVER before!) was kind of funny in stating how drawn out and very SLOW everything was. And, sadly I must agree... long, lingering takes are one thing, but I'm sorry, but the director although, again, making an effort I'm sure, just didn't have the chops to incorporate what I feel was the right accompanying mood, atmosphere, soundtrack (although at times it was perfect, but only at times) and I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt the need to artificially REALLY drag out the 'dramatic' scenes, particularly. I think I could have gone along with most of the pacing overall, but those scenes where either someone was killed or someone they loved was killed, etc., he drug it out WAAAAAAAAAAY too long.

Also, about the mood... And again, this is only my impression. But, if you wanna go the Lynchian route, just long, slow, cryptic takes are NOT enough. It is the WAY that he does it with mood, style, lighting, and above all SOUND. This director in my opinion just missed all that and I guess figured that simply just slowing everything way, way, way the hell down in and of itself was 'Artistic' enough.

It wasn't... (sorry...)

Like I say, too bad too. If you simply trimmed off the overly extended 'Drama' scenes number 1, and 2nd, added some real mood or other touches that would have given all that slowness some Psychological or Emotional 'Grab' to it, then I think you would have really had something here. Yes, it would still have been super slow and ambiguous (I'm STILL not quite absolutely sure about the ending - I'm going to try to look it up somewhere) but, if done 'properly', at least to me, I think it really could've been pulled off a LOT better than it was. I think that I am being SUPER generous giving it a '6', mainly because the idea was intriguing.

So, my 'recommendation' would be, ONLY as an artistic curiosity, and only, ONLY if you are an EXTREMELY patient person, there is the remote possibility that you might find something here.

Otherwise to everyone else who isn't into VERY slow cinematic experimentation and just wants to see a good, well made Horror / Suspense / Sci Fi film, this will not be the movie for you...

If you have enough interesting ideas for a watchable seven minute short film but decide to stretch it out to feature length by simply directing your performers to "walk down the hallway slower...No, even slower than that." you would probably end up with this film. Other directorial notes must have included "Stare longer"; "Wait longer before you speak"; and "Cross the room as slowly as you can - don't worry we're not cutting away!" For the record I am a fan of the long lingering take; of strange original visions; of movies that want to play with complex themes and concepts. And here they might have been going for all of that, and just stumbling badly in the process. Watching patiently is one thing- suffering pointlessly is another. Full disclosure; I finally shut it off after an hour eighteen but unless there was an epic scene with flying penguins, exploding elephants, and a chorus of dancing robots after that I can think of no reason to have subjected myself to further boredom.

By all means, this movie looks beautiful. Every shot is masterfully lit and composed, I just wish they put as much work into the screenwriting as they did the look of the film. Someone really wanted to stretch 30 minutes of film into an hour and a half feature film. I'm not sure who was responsible for the final product more; the director/writer, screenwriter, producers; but whoever it was should step away from film, it doesn't seem to be their calling.

I'm all for a slow burn, tense movie, but there are shots like a closeup of a characters face, just breathing, for a solid couple of minutes. Nothing tense or suspenseful happening, just a solid few minutes with absolutely nothing going on. No one in the film talks faster than a few words per minute, and that coupled with the fact that this movie doesn't have any kind of musical score makes it feel like a three hour movie. It was actually painful to watch and this is the first time in a long time that I regret watching a movie.

Overall cool idea, just wasted on a seemingly inexperienced director/writer/producers. Without all the still shots, slow shots of characters just walking around the house, closeups of characters just breathing; this movie would be about 30 minutes long.

Terrible slow-burner. Cringey and annoying acting, obvious twists and absolutely no pay off. You keep watching it in hopes it'll improve and surprise you but it doesn't. I still can't believe I made it to "mom, mom, mom... Ahh, ahh, ahh...". After that I had to fast forward. If you're an architect, the house will be the only take away. And that's what my 3 is for.

It really is a shame when you see something and see a really good idea behind it ... but as the movie goes on realize that it does not do it justice. It's really a shame and the rating from other viewers seem to confirm that sentiment. We get a drama with Science Fiction and mystery touches. There are quite some neat ideas in this movie, even the "repetitions".

But even when you find out about some of the twists (which in itself are really nice), they never blossom into something bigger. It might have to do with budget restraints or other problems/issues I'm not aware of (maybe producers interfering, maybe the screenwriter and/or the director going off the rails. Whatever the case, this feels very burden and the acting may be decent, but can not save this from falling of the cliff and shattering ... A real shame ...